Making its global public debut on the Great Plains stand at this year’s Agritechnica event is one of the latest additions to the company’s range of new generation Spartan direct drills, the 10-meter SpartanII 1007. This new model follows the 6-meter SpartanII 607, launched in Europe in 2016, and the 9-meter 907 model, which made its first appearance earlier this year at SIMA 2017. An 8-meter model is already available and a 12-meter will complete the range next year.

Great Plains’ Vertical Tillage system will be highlighted at this year’s Agritechnica event including the manufacturer’s new Max-Chisel™ primary tillage tool which makes its European debut.

Vertical Tillage is a system-based approach developed by Great Plains to ensure that soils are well-structured in order to give plants the best possible environment for healthy growth and create the ideal conditions for optimum yields.

Great Plains will be exhibiting a number of examples from their extensive range of vertical tillage, drilling, planting and nutrient placement products at this year’s Agritechnica. The manufacturer’s line-up includes the following machines:-

SpartanII 1007 No-Till Air Drill
The latest addition to the 3-meter transport line of SpartanII Air Drills, is the SpartanII 1007. This new 10-meter model is added to 6, 8, 9 and 12 meter working widths, all of which offer significant new developments and improvements over previous models.

Great Plains Manufacturing announced today the decision to stop production of Great Plains Products at its Sleaford, UK site and close the facility. This decision comes in the wake of an extended downturn in the worldwide agricultural economy. Current production is to be complete by mid-year 2017. Other operations and functions of the Sleaford site will be phased out after the 2017 autumn season with facility closure to occur early in 2018.

The new 3-metre transport version of Great Plains’ most successful vertical tillage implement, the Turbo-Max, makes its SIMA debut this year. Showcased on the company’s stand in Hall 6 is the 8-metre model, which has recently been joined by a 3m and 6-metre version for the narrow transport market.

Making its global public debut on the Great Plains stand at this year’s SIMA event is the latest addition to the company’s range of new generation Spartan direct drills, the 9-metre SpartanII 907. This new model follows the 6-metre SpartanII 607, which was commercially launched last year. Over the course of the next few months, Great Plains also plans to introduce 8-metre, 10-metre and 12-metre variants of the drill to complete the range.

At SIMA 2017, Great Plains is exhibiting the 4-metre version of its Saxon CDA range of minimal disturbance drills which also includes 3-metre and 6-metre grain only models plus grain and fertiliser variants for all three working widths.

The new-look X-PressVX, available in both mounted and trailed versions, has an improved chassis, which accommodates a range of new specification options without compromising the generous amount of trash clearance between both sets of discs and the rear roller. The use of tubular steel to the wing sections enables the machine to handle increased torque loadings.

As a result of increased demand, Great Plains UK is extending the closing date for its ‘out-of-season’ 0% retail finance programme.

Available across the full range of Great Plains UK-built tillage and seeding machinery, customers now have until February 28th 2017 to place their orders in order to benefit from a package that enables them to spread the cost of their new equipment over 2 equal annual payments, the first of which is not required until November 2017, at 0% flat rate per annum.

An Oil Seed Rape Conference sponsored by Monsanto in Portugal was held recently in Beja, Baixo Alentejo, with the cooperation of the local Monsanto and Great Plains distributor, A. Cano Associados S.A. The event attracted an audience of more than 70 farmers keen to exploit the potential of the crop underlined by last year’s yields.

All aspects of the oil seed rape crop were addressed through the course of the day in six different information-packed presentations.

Great Plains expertise in vertical tillage techniques and soil structure management was to the fore during two field days recently held in Finland. The first field day, organised by the Sugar Beet Research Centre of Finland and attended by 87 farmers, was part of a wider and ongoing education and information project “Juurikkaan satotasot nousuun” (JUNO), an initiative designed to help raise sugar beet yield levels in Finland.

Great Plains UK has announced the launch of its 2016 ‘out-of-season’ retail finance programme, which offers customers an attractive incentive for ordering their Great Plains equipment early with a choice of competitive interest-free payment plans.

A gloriously warm and sunny day on Wednesday 14th September drew in the crowds to the Tillage-Live event, which is organised annually by the Agricultural Engineers Association and was held this year at Monks Kirby in Warwickshire.

Tillage-Live is a product demonstration event enabling arable farmers to see a range of cultivation, seedbed preparation, drilling and ploughing equipment from leading manufacturers put through their paces.

Great Plains’ aim of increasing sales and growing its market share across the tillage, seeding and planting machinery sectors of the German agricultural equipment market was given a major boost earlier this summer when the company entered into an agreement with Beutlhauser to retail the full Great Plains 3-metre transport range of tillage and seeding products.

Great Plains has added new 6-metre models to its existing line-up of 3 and 4-metre Saxon minimal disturbance drills. The grain only variant of the new 6-metre model was shown for the first time in the UK at the Cereals event, closely followed by its appearance at The Royal Highland Show in Scotland. A grain and fertiliser option is also available.

Great Plains has added grain and fertiliser variants to its existing grain only 3, 4 and 6-metre Centurion cultivator drill ranges. The first Centurion grain and fertiliser model to make its debut in the UK was the 4-metre machine which drew large crowds at this year’s Cereals event and was also the star attraction on the Great Plains stand at The Royal Highland Show soon afterwards.

Great Plains’ new Saxon CDA minimal disturbance drill has been awarded first prize in the cultivation and drilling category of the prestigious International Machinery Manufacturers Awards (IMMA) for 2016.

Now in their third year, the independently judged IMMA awards, which are operated by the organisers of the Cereals event, recognise and reward the innovation and development of machinery products within the arable industry.